The Final Battle: A Star Wars Oneshot
by ArSee
Summary: After the Destroyers swept through the galaxy, the Protectors were all but destroyed. Now Cade Brales, the only one left, will stop the madness. Contains lightsabers, mandos, and fighting. Rated T for violence.


A/N Although this isn't my first upload to this site, my last one was short and will be deleted soon. This Oneshot is just a bit of a connector for all of the stories that I'll be doing.  
Anyway, hope you enjoy!

~Ar

(P.S.: Sorry about the lack of italics and bolding where needed, I'm using OI Notepad on my phone, and it has no way of italicizing or bolding text. #1stWorldWriterProblems If you by any chance have a good writing program for Android, please pm me or put it in a review or something. Aaanyway, on to ze story!)

The Final Battle

Cornered, trapped against a ledge leading to a forty foot drop, and bladeless, Cade was very much beaten.  
His opponent was a much better swordsman than he, most likely training all his life in order to be able to defeat anyone in a one-on-one lightsaber fight.  
What he didn't know, however, was that a Mando in armor was never, ever unarmed. On his HUD, he warmed up the flamethrower on his gauntlet while he distracted his assailant, Nolan Vir, with some chatter.

"So, you going to cut my head off, or just stand there until Mustafar freezes? I mean, I'm in no rush to die, but I wouldn't want to waste your sweet time..."

Vir smiled cruelly. "Oh, have you given up already? I expected more of a fight from a so-called Mandalorian." He sneered. "Pathetic."

"Do you like BBQ?"

"What-?"

Suddenly the flamethrower roared to life. Of course, Vir dodged the blast-he had the Force, after all-but it gave Cade precious seconds to think.  
What would he never expect me to do?  
Jump.  
Vir whirled, red lightsaber blazing, black cloak smoking, eyes full of fury, and Cade took that as a sign that he should go.  
So he jumped.  
To be entirely honest, it was neither a graceful nor impressive landing, but he was alive, and that was a bonus. He landed in a low crouch, and he savoured the slight relief it gave him. But Cade's moment of rest was short lived. Vir leaped down in a vicious slash. Cade rolled away, and caught the next strike in the crook of his crossed beskar gauntlets. Vir looked confused for a moment, and Cade pushed the saber away. In the process, he knocked an armored knuckle plate on Vir's chin, sending him sprawling on the dirt. Cade spotted his beskad, and used the Force to wrench it free of rubble and into his hand just in time to parry a savage strike to his neck. Back and forth they went, Vir much more cautious than before. He had seen what Cade was capable of-getting out of the impossible using the various gadgets in his armor was a new and dangerous tactic that he was ill prepared for. Vir would have to be careful.  
In the rubble of the city they traded blows, neither gaining the upper hand. Cade had begun to switch to the lightsaber combat form III, Soresu. Soresu was used to create impenetrable walls if defense by masters of the form. Far from a master, Cade repeatedly needed to use his gauntlets to block as much as his beskad. He would need to repaint the scorched forearm guards, once he got out of this mess.  
Cade needed an opening. He needed Vir to make a mistake. He ducked under a quick slash to his head, and flipped backwards as a second blade nearly cut him in two. Twin blades-Vir really was a master of his sabers. Now Cade was giving ground once more under the onslought of two lightsabers. He couldn't keep this up for much longer, and the fate of the galaxy rested on Vir dying.  
Cade needed to end this.  
He pulled out a grenade.  
Now, as far as grenades went, this one was no thermal detonator, but when he thumbed the arming switch and the light winked red, it did the trick. Trapped in a deadlock, Vir was unable to get away.  
Cade and Vir both flew back, weapons flying in all directions.  
Cade landed, skidded, and stopped, armor smoking. He lifted his head and laughed.

"Hah," he panted, "you don't get it, do you?"

Vir struggled to rise, as did Cade. "I get that you are in my way!" Vir wiped blood from his chin as he struggled into a kneeling position. "You foolish Protectors think that you can save the galaxy without it corrupting you." He sneered. "There is no resisting it. Why do you hold on so stuppornly?"

"Because it's worth it. It's worth death." Cade took off his helmet and spat blood on the scorched rubble. "I don't care if I die! As long as my vow is kept... if you let go of your delusions..." Cade's expression looked pained. "But no, you're too stubborn, too blind..."

Vir stumbled unsteadily towards Cade. "My delusions," he scoffed. "You're the one convinced that you can save the galaxy! Bah!" Vir had nearly reached Cade now. He dug in his shredded tunic, and pulled out a dagger. "But you can' , Brales, you die-urkh!"  
Cade buried his knuckle-mounted vibroblade into Vir's stomach. He pulled it out. He felt a stinging in his side. He looked down slowly.  
Vir's dagger was protruding from his side.  
Vir smiled, blood welling at his lips. "Today... we... both die..." He slumped over.  
Cade pulled the dagger out, but he barely felt the pain. In a strange, twisted way, both of them had won. Cade had wanted peace, and without Vir, the Destroyers would no longer be a threat. But with Cade now dying, Vir had eradicated all of the Protectors. Bittersweet. Shereshoy bal Aay'han. Cade suddenly realized he was on the ground. He had no memory of falling...  
Is this what It's like to die?  
Cade smiled to himself. No matter the cost, he had said, he would finish the work of the Protectors.

"No matter the cost..."

Cade's world faded into darkness.

"Sir, he is gaining consciousness."  
What? I'm dead... is this a dream? A vision?  
"Good. Give him the stimshot."  
Stimshot? He felt-felt?-a prick where his neck would be, and suddenly the world came flooding back. He was alive...  
He breathed in. The air smelled like any other hospital, but for a dead man, it was the smell of pure joy. For a dead man, anything was beautiful.  
"Easy, sir, you've had a rough week. Whatever that stuff on that dagger was, it could still be in your system." That voice again. Dagger? What was going on?

Cade coughed and asked, "What happened?"  
Well, A for effort, anyway. What came out was little more than a coughing, gurgly moan.

"Relax, sir, you were attacked. Whatever was on the dagger Vir stabbed you with is still messing with your brain. Your memories will return in time." My memories...? Cade smiled, suddenly weary. He felt something... contentedness. For what? He didn't know. Weary... so tired. The world faded once more. But slower.

"Don, we're losing him!"  
He was losing himself, to find something more.

"Mike, bacta, NOW!"  
He freed himself to free others.

"Kriff... KRIFF! It was slow-acting poison!"  
He let go of his life to save another's.

"Too late..."  
And now, he has returned.

Epilogue

I am in a dream.  
There is no other way to describe it. This floating sensation, my fractured, broken memories slowly mending. I remember now, why I died. The Destroyers rising, killing the Protectors. I remember the final battle, the dagger, but there's more. The Resistance, the Factions, Phoenix... but these are not my memories. The memories of another...? No. Others. Across the plane of the Force, I see these other people, similar yet different, fighting against tyranny and for freedom. I smile, although I no longer have a body. These are the people that matter. The people that will change the universe. And now, through death, I am with them, helping.  
I am faded now, so engulfed in the Force. It's magic, to one of the others. Not the Force, then? Maybe. It is the Force to another. These people are not of the same place. Or time, for all I know. It matters not, but somehow, I feel it does. So I cling, not letting myself disappear into the currents entirely. I reach out, touching each of the others in turn. First, someone named Derek Alpson, from a place called Alanci. The Factions are his memories. Then, I reach out to a young man with a fiery spirit. His name is Jason Fletcher, from... Illal. He remembers something about Phoenix. And finally, there is a young Mandalorian, bearing my own namesake, Brales. He remembers the Resistance, and... and me? It matters not.  
I am connected to them through the Force, lending them my strength.

Somewhere, they are fighting a war. Separately, but together. And now, I am fighting it with them.

Perhaps death will not be so bad after all.

"Wake up, Mr. Brales..."

END


End file.
